


Half-Friends

by Bookworm1063



Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-08-13 16:57:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20177668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bookworm1063/pseuds/Bookworm1063
Summary: Penny and Baz talk about Simon.





	Half-Friends

**Penelope**

It’s been a week since the Mage’s death, and no one has answered my questions.

I have a lot of questions, but that’s not unusual for me. What is unusual is that I’ve gone this long without dragging the answers out of somebody.

I want to know what happens now, and why Simon lost his magic, and how our spells killed the Mage, sure. But what I really want to know is why Simon is currently upstairs, sitting on my floor, wrapped in blankets and letting Baz- _Baz_, of all people- hold him and tell him it’s going to be ok.

I want to know what the hell is going on, and I plan to get some answers. Which is why I’m standing outside of my room, precariously balancing three mugs of tea and a plate of scones. I kick the door open and march in.

The boys look up from their spot on the floor. Simon’s obviously upset, but I don’t blame him- he just accidentally killed his mentor and lost his magic in one fell swoop. Baz just looks worried. About Simon. _Wow._

I hand them each some tea and make sure Simon takes a scone. Then I say, “So I get that it’s a bad time, but I’m curious.”

Simon doesn’t look up from his scone. Baz just sighed. “Do we need to talk about this now, Bunce?”

“No, I guess not,” I say. “But don’t think I won’t get answers eventually. That’s what I do. I demand explanations, and then I tell people why their explanations are crap.” A faint smile flickers across Simon’s face, and I know he remembers when he said that to me.

“We’re together,” he says now. “Baz and I. We’re together.” Then he shuts up and goes back to picking at his scone. I don’t think I’ve seen him take a single bite.

“Eat,” I tell him. “And, yeah, I got that. Since when?”

“Christmas,” Simon says. He takes a bite of his scone, to my relief.

“That’s why you went back,” I say. “On Christmas Eve. That’s why you went back- why didn’t you say anything?”

Simon seems to have checked out of the conversation completely, so it’s Baz who answers. “Because there was nothing to tell. Not really- not yet.”

“Yes, Simon ran five miles through the snow to get back to your house because _nothing happened._ Something happened.”

“We kissed, Bunce. You really want the specifics?”

“No. I want to know why.”

“Because we wanted too. Any other ridiculous questions?”

They were spared from my ridiculous questions when my mum came to the door, which I’d left open. “Basil, your aunt is here to take you back to Watford.”

“Alright. Thank you, Professor Bunce,” Baz says. My mother leaves, and Baz leans over to press his lips to the top of Simon’s head. “I’ll see you next week, love.”

Simon tilts his head up to kiss Baz, and I look away. I’m still not sure what I’m looking at, and after a minute I go to wait in the hallway. I can hear the quiet murmur of voices, and then Baz steps out of the room. I wait until we’ve moved out of Simon’s earshot before stopping Baz from going down the stairs.

“You do realize that my aunt will curse everyone in this house, myself included, if I make her wait much longer?” he asks.

“This will be quick,” I assure him. “Listen, normally this would be the part where I tell you that if you break my best friend’s heart, I’ll kill you, etc. cetera. And because it’s you, I would also add something about how I don’t trust you, and how I was going to uncover whatever your evil scheme was. But something tells me I don’t have to do that.”

“Really? I admit I never expected to win you over that easily, Bunce,” Baz says.

“Yeah, well. It didn’t make sense at the time. How you did it. But it makes sense now.”

“What are you talking about?”

“**On love’s light wings.** I’m in love with Micah, and I can barely get that spell to work. There’s no way I could have used it to lift myself and one other person ten feet in the air, with Simon’s magic the way it was. I couldn’t cast anything at all, much less pull off something like that. But you could, and that tells me everything I need to know.”

Baz frowns at me. “And what’s that?”

“You love him. Completely, ridiculously, against all odds, sense, and reason, you love him. You’re not going to break his heart.”

“No,” Baz says. “I’m not.”

We stand there in silence for a moment, but it’s not awkward. At least, I don’t think so.

I grimace slightly. “Does this mean we have to be friends?”

Baz laughs at that, shaking his head. “I don’t have friends, Bunce. I have minions. And a boyfriend.” It’s a joke, but I also think he kind of means it. So I play along.

“Half friends,” I say, holding out my hand. We shake.

“I really do have to go. Take care of him, alright?”

“Of course,” I respond. “And, Baz? Thanks for helping that day. You didn’t have to- it means a lot to everyone that you did.”

“I did have to,” Baz says. Then he turns and walks down the stairs. I hear the front door shut, and the sound of a car pulling out of the driveway.

I’m still going to get answers out of those two. It just might have to wait for another day.

I spin around and head back down the hallway, where I find out that Simon has eaten half the scones.

He’ll be ok. Eventually. He has Baz, and me, and sour cherry scones- it might be a long road, but he’ll be ok.

I sit down and grab a scone before Simon can eat _all _of them.


End file.
